SHELBY — Rodney Brown has watched large leads dissipate before at Shelby High School.
That wasn’t the case Friday night as River Valley (5-1, 2-1 MOAC) raced to a 30-point victory over Shelby (3-2, 2-2 MOAC) in a conference meeting.
Leading by three points after a back-and-forth first quarter, the Vikings stretched their lead to 10 by halftime — led by 17 first-half points from senior guard Chase Ebert.
“We’ve had some really close ones here (Shelby),” Brown said. “It was like, foot on the gas and don’t let anything happen. I’m just really proud of them.”
River Valley refilled its tank at the break. Outscoring Shelby 27-12 in the third period, the Vikings saw a breakout quarter from Eli Snyder. The six-foot junior guard tallied 13 points for the frame.
The Vikings added 23 more points in the final eight minutes, racing away from a Shelby squad who struggled to find its groove offensively Friday. Brown’s team boasted four double-digit scorers.
Snyder led River Valley with 23 points, followed by Ebert and Carter Myers who scored 18 each. Senior guard Sawyer Weston added 17.
“They shared the ball and did everything that we’ve worked on and talked about,” Brown said. “‘Together’ it says on every shirt we have and that’s what they did, they did it together.”
New-look Whippets working to build chemistry
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway was comfortable with the game’s pace during the first half.
He said the Whippets want to play fast, but find good shots offensively.
“The thing for us was defensively we just didn’t do a great job,” Gallaway said. “It seemed like we weren’t very connected as a group.”
Coming off a state Final Four run last season, Shelby is still searching for its identity this year after losing a handful of seniors to graduation — including three-time All-Ohioan Alex Bruskotter.
The Whippets do possess a plethora of multi-sport athletes, including Brayden DeVito and Karsen Homan, among others, who were instrumental both in last year’s tournament run, as well as on the football field.
DeVito led Shelby with 18 points Friday and three triples. Homan added 11.
Shelby’s football journey this fall to the Division IV, Region 14 semifinal briefly delayed the start of the school’s basketball season.
But Gallaway said the biggest challenges center largely around this year’s roster gaining experience on both ends of the court.
“We do appreciate our multi-sport athletes here at Shelby and their willingness to work hard in every sport they are in,” he said.
“Despite a football run, we have a new team this year. We have a lot of guys that need varsity experience and it’s going to take a while for us to figure things out on both ends of the floor.
“That starts with consistency at practice and the more we’re around each other.”
(Below are pictures from Friday’s game between Shelby and River Valley at Shelby High School. Credit: Hayden Gray, Shelby/North County reporter)
Up next:
— Shelby returns to action Monday at Norwalk (3-2, 1-1 SBC Lake). The Truckers defeated Clyde 60-59 on Friday.
— River Valley hosts Highland (2-4, 2-2 MOAC) next Friday. The Fighting Scots fell Friday night to Marion Harding 59-39.